The Truth Beneath the Lies
by AryannaRoss1994
Summary: Hermione Granger overhears the truth: Dumbledore has planned everything from the beginning, from Harry's dead parents to current events. Disgusted, she tells all the people this plan has wronged, and they join forces with an unexpected ally to take down the real evil. Meanwhile, Severus Snape starts to notice how intelligent Hermione really is. Dumble/Ron/Ginny bashing.edited some
1. Preface

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I just own the plot.

Preface

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, his eyes glittering behind half-moon spectacles as he stared at the five Weasleys – Arthur, Molly, Percy, Ron, and Ginny – that currently occupied his office.

"Everything is going according to plan," Dumbledore said smugly. "Harry will soon be completely under my control."

"What is the whole plan again?" Ron asked. "I just know from when I was supposed to befriend him."

"Well, you know Voldemort was a failed experiment of mine," Dumbledore said, pressing the tips of his fingers together. "I knew I had to find a way to get rid of him. So I had Professor Trelawney meet me at the Leaky Cauldron. There she made a fake prophecy, when we knew Severus was listening. We knew he'd tell his master about the prophecy and that Voldemort would seek out the person it told of that would kill him. I knew, of course, that there were two candidates; Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. I waited until I heard news that Frank and Alice Longbottom had been tortured to lunacy, and made absolutely sure that Voldemort would go after Harry. I knew the boy would be the best candidate because of his magic hating muggle Aunt and Uncle. So, when Sirius Black came to me and said that he wanted Peter Pettigrew to be the secret keeper on Lily and James's hiding place, I jumped at the chance; of course I knew Peter was one of Voldemort's followers.

"I knew that Peter would leak their hiding place to Voldemort, and that Voldemort would kill Lily and James. I also knew that Lily would protect Harry and cause the Killing Curse to backfire when Voldemort tried to kill Harry. I knew, with Sirius's hot temper that he would go after Peter, and that Peter would do something drastic to get away. That took care of Sirius being able to take care of him. I also made sure those werewolf restricting laws were out of the way so that Remus Lupin couldn't take care of the boy. This way, he absolutely had to go to his Aunt and Uncle. There, he would be treated badly, and when he came back to the magical world, he would be completely vulnerable. When he met me, I would be a grandfatherly figure to him so that he would completely trust me.

"Then I put your mother in place, so that Harry would meet her and your family, and would undoubtedly become friends with you and see you Weasleys as family.

"This year, I plan on ignoring him, so that his visions will eventually lead him into a sticky situation that will get Sirius killed. I'll also have to figure out a way for Remus to die as well, so that he is completely reliant on me. Also, Dolores Umbridge will be coming to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, so that they will be restricted on what they can learn. This way they have to go off and learn things on their own. And Dolores will provoke Harry by calling him a liar about Voldemort. She also has a thing against half-breeds, which is why I asked specifically for her. I need Harry to be as provoked and vulnerable as possible, so that it is easy for Voldemort to get into Harry's mind and trick him.

"I will then show him how to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes, and have him kill Voldemort. Then Miss Ginny will marry him. We will then find a way for Harry to die, whether we make it look like a suicide or revenge from the Death Eaters that will still be at large. You will get Harry's money, as promised, and I will rule the Wizarding World from the shadows."

"But what about Hermione?" Ron asked. "She's pretty intelligent; are you sure she won't figure it out?"

"We have given Miss Granger no reason to suspect a thing," Dumbledore said, waving a hand dismissively. "She will follow Harry. Everything will go according to plan."

The conversation broke off and they began talking about other things, not knowing that there was an eavesdropper that had heard everything.


	2. Secrets Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I just own the plot.

Hi guys! I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed the preface of my story. I'm sorry that Dumbles's plan was so rough, but I promise the story will get better!

Chapter One

Secrets Revealed

Hermione Granger paced the length of the library at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. She had overheard Remus Lupin telling Sirius Black that Harry Potter had been attacked by dementors earlier that evening. He had been walking back to his aunt and uncle's from the park close by; his cousin had been with him. Not wanting to have his soul sucked out, Harry had performed the Patronus Charm to scare the dementors off. Now he was in trouble or using magic underage and for doing it in front of a muggle; forget the fact that he had practically saved his cousin's life as well as his own.

She also heard that the Ministry of Magic had tried to expel Harry from Hogwarts before Dumbledore convinced them to give him a hearing. Remus was currently with a few other members of the Order of the Phoenix – a secret society Dumbledore had founded the first time they had fought Voldemort – to retrieve Harry and bring him to Grimmauld Place.

Hermione worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she thought about the upcoming hearing. It was no secret what people thought of Harry after what had happened during the Triwizard Tournament the previous school year; many, especially those at the Ministry, thought Harry had made up the story of Voldemort's return to get attention. Others thought that the Triwizard Tournament made him go mad. She sneered when she thought about the conversation she'd overheard at the end of the previous school year.

"What an unattractive face, Miss Granger," a smooth baritone voice said from the doorway of the library. Hermione's head jerked up to find Severus Snape leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed. "Don't tell me one of your precious books displeased you."

"Sod off, Snape," Hermione growled, resuming her pacing. "I'm not in the mood."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "What's got your robes in a knot?"

Hermione glowered at him. "It really isn't any of your business," she hissed. Snape's eyes narrowed.

"You'd best watch your tone, girl," he hissed back.

"Or what?" Hermione challenged. "You'll hex me? Please, we both know I could match you in a duel."

Hermione knew she was asking for it, but she needed to vent; and what better way to do so than to duel someone you had pent up annoyance towards?

Before Snape could retort, they heard the front door open and the sound of Alastar Moody's wooden leg on the hardwood floor. Moments later they heard something fall and a feminine voice letting out a stream of curse words.

"It seems our duel will have to wait," Hermione said flatly, shoving past Snape to get to the kitchen, where Harry would most likely be.

Sure enough, there Harry stood; he was currently being smothered by Molly Weasley while her husband Arthur explained to Harry about his hearing.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Are you all right?"

"As I can be," he muttered. "We'll talk about it later."

Hermione nodded, understanding the meaning under the words.

"Why don't you go up with Ron and Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, shooing them out of the kitchen. "The Order meeting is about to start and you know you aren't allowed to join. Dinner will be served afterwards."

Hermione sighed and nodded, taking Harry's hand and leading him out of the kitchen. Severus shoved past them and into the kitchen, glowering at Hermione as he went. Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'll tell you once we're alone," she muttered, dragging him into the library. She shut and warded the door before putting up a silencing charm. "All right, let's see how bad it is this time."

Harry took off his shirt and turned around. Hermione winced as she glanced over the fresh whip marks and the word "freak" that had been recently carved into his flesh. She took out her wand and ran it over the wounds, muttering a healing charm as she went. She watched as the wounds closed, leaving fresh pink scars behind.

"All right, all done," she murmured, stepping back. Harry put his shirt back on.

"How bad was yours?" Harry asked as he flopped down on one of the sofas. Hermione sat beside him and sighed.

"I had to mend three broken ribs, a split lip, a broken jaw and cheek bone, and a twisted ankle," she muttered. "I left the lacerations on my back alone, but…"

"But?" Harry pressed. Hermione bit her lip and raised her shirt, revealing her abdomen. You could see the scars that showed where the word "slut" had been carved into her flesh.

"I can't take anymore of this," Harry growled. "Our lives have been screwed up enough. I say we tell the others who have had a similar fate as soon as possible."

"Mm," Hermione hummed in agreement. "I'll have them gather here tonight, as it is the largest and most private room in the house. I'll also have Snape bring Veritaserum; we both know that none of them are going to believe me without it."

"Unfortunately," Harry sighed. "Guess we'd better go find Ron and Ginny before they suspect something."

Hermione snorted, but released the wards on the door and the silencing charm. Hermione then led Harry to the room he would be sharing with Ron Weasley.

When they entered Ron and his sister Ginny leapt up from the bed Ron was occupying for the duration of their stay at Grimmauld Place, rushing towards Harry.

"Harry, mate, are you all right?" Ron asked, seeming concerned. "We heard about the dementor attack; that sounds just mental!"

"And the hearing is awful!"Ginny simpered. "They just can't expel you for defending yourself! It's completely unfair!"

"Yeah, well, so is not getting any letters from my so-called friends," Harry muttered flatly, glaring at Ron and Ginny. "If it weren't for Hermione, I'd be completely in the dark and thinking myself completely friendless."

"We were told not to write you!"Ginny pleaded. "And you weren't supposed to tell him anything, Hermione! Dumbledore made us swear!"

"Technically I didn't swear to anything," Hermione said flatly, crossing her arms. "And I thought Harry was supposed to be the one defeating Voldemort; how can he do that if he's left in the dark? And stop flinching, it's just a name!"

"I guess I can see your logic," Ginny said sheepishly, ignoring the name comment.

With a sudden pop, Fred and George Weasley appeared behind Ron and Ginny, making them both jump. George snickered.

"Thought we heard your voice, Harry," Fred said.

"Want to know about the Order do you?" Georg asked.

"Well we – " Fred began.

"Have a way," George finished. Fred pulled a piece of flesh colored string out of his pocked. It had an ear attached to both ends.

"Extendable Ears," Fred explained upon seeing Harry's confused expression. "Let's listen in on the meeting, shall we?"

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "A little late for that," she said matter-of-factly. "I hear Mrs. Weasley coming up the stairs."

Fred quickly stuffed the Extendable Ear into his pocket. Hermione opened the door, catching Mrs. Weasley by surprise.

"Dinner is ready dears," she said. The six of them followed Mrs. Weasley to the kitchen in time to see Snape heading for the door.

"Leaving Severus?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I don't want to impose on the… reunion," he said, sneering at Harry.

"Please stay, Professor," Hermione said sweetly, causing Snape to look at her and raise an eyebrow. "There's always plenty of food, and more than enough beds."

_We need to discuss something,_ she told him in his head using Legilimency. _Do you have Veritaserum on you?_

_ Of course I do,_ Snape thought back. _I never go anywhere without it. Why?_

_Meet me in the library, midnight tonight,_ Hermione thought, giving no explanation. She knew his curiosity would get the better of him.

"All right," he said, both to the meeting and to staying. "I could use a free meal and some rest before I return to my spying duties."

With that everyone entered the kitchen and settled won at the table. Conversations began all around.

"This is very, very peculiar," Mr. Weasley said to Harry. "It seems your hearing at the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot."

"I don't understand," Harry lied. "What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?"

The entire table went quiet.

"Show him," Moody grunted. "He'll find out soon enough."

Kingsley Shacklebolt handed Harry a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. The headline read "The Boy Who Lies?" Harry mentally snorted; what a lame title.

"Now he's been attacking Dumbledore as well," Sirius said. Harry mentally snorted again. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence on the _Daily Prophet_ to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."

"Why?" Harry asked, wondering what lame excuse the Ministry had come up with.

"The Minister thinks Dumbledore's after his job," Remus said.

"But that's insane!" Harry protested. _Yeah, why would he want to be Minister if he can pull the strings from the shadows?_ he thought to himself. "No one in their right minds would believe that Dumbledore would – "

"Exactly the point," Remus said. "Fudge isn't in his right mind; it's been twisted and warped by fear. Now fear can make people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now that he's returned, I'm afraid the Minister will do anything to stop from facing the terrifying truth."

"We thing Voldemort wants to build up his army again," Sirius said.

"Army?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, Potter, army," Snape sneered. "Fourteen years ago he had many under his command; and not just wizards and witches, but also a number of dark creatures. Werewolves, giants, and vampires, for example."

"He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same," Sirius said. He seemed to hesitate before continuing. "But gathering follower isn't the only thing he's interested in."

Moody cleared his throat, giving Sirius a stern look. Sirius pressed on anyway.

"We believe Voldemort may be after something," he said.

"Sirius," Moody warned.

"Something he didn't have last time, "Sirius continued.

"You mean like a weapon?" Harry asked. Sirius opened his mouth to answer when Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"No, that's enough," she ordered, taking the _Daily Prophet _from Harry. "He's just a boy! You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order straight away!"

"Good, I want to join!" Harry said. _Not, _he thought. _And I'm not a child!_ "If Voldemort's raising an army then I want to fight!"

Sirius gave Mrs. Weasley a "there-you-have –it" gesture and leaned back in his chair, winking at Harry.

"Well, I've had enough excitement for one night," Hermione said, standing. "I'm going to the library to read and wind down for the night." She went around the table and kissed Remus, Sirius, Fred and George on the cheek, something she'd thought up upon arriving at Grimmauld Place specifically for this moment; she had slipped pieces of parchment into their pockets – unknown to anyone else – telling them to meet her in the library at midnight. She then went to Harry. "Library, midnight," she whispered as she kissed him on the cheek. He gave the tiniest of nods. She then retreated to the library. Once there, she took out her own personal pensieve, placed her wand tip to her temple and extracted the memory she would be showing select parties when they arrived around midnight. Then she picked up a book on Dark Potions and began to read to pass the time.

No sooner had she finished the book that the clock in the library chimed midnight. She straightened and stretched, waiting for the others to arrive. Harry, unsurprisingly, arrived first.

"You know how Ron is," he muttered as he entered the room. "Sleeps like the dead."

Fred and George were the next to arrive, followed by Remus, Sirius, and Snape. Hermione closed the door behind them before warding it with several locking charms, an anti-aparation spell and many silencing and muffling charms.

"Hermione, what's going on?" Remus asked, concerned.

"There's something about Dumbledore you all must know," Hermione said. "He's not all that he says he is."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"It would be best if I showed you," Hermione said, motioning to the pensieve. "I will tell you now that there are specific reasons I'm showing this to the specific people here. It affects all but Fred and George; for them I'm confirming their suspicions and showing them the truth about five of their family members." They all looked at hr uncertainly – except Harry, who already knew. "Well don't just stand there staring at me," she huffed, getting annoyed. "Take a look!"

Snape was the first to step forward, and the others followed warily. They all watched Dumbledore explain his whole plan to Ron, Ginny, Percy, Mr. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley. They all stood stunned for a moment after resurfacing before turning to stare at Hermione incredulously.

"How do we know this memory isn't fabricated?" Remus asked suspiciously. "You are the brightest witch of your age, after all."

Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing this was coming. She conjured a goblet of pumpkin juice and held out a hand to Snape.

"Hand it over, Mr. 'I-always-carry-Veritaserum-with-me,'" she said. Then she turned to the others. "And before you ask, no, there is no antidote or neutralizing potion for Veritaserum; there has yet to be an ingredient found that neutralizes Bluebell Extract, which is the main ingredient in Veritaserum."

She then proceeded to snatch the Veritaserum from Snape's hand before he could tell her to hand over the goblet. She added three drops of the potion to her drink before handing it back to Snape and downing the contents of the goblet.

"All right, start asking," she said, plopping down onto one of the sofas.

"Is the memory we just viewed fabricated?" Snape asked immediately.

"No," Hermione said. Rage immediately took over most of their features.

"I trusted him," Sirius growled. "And he's the reason James and Lily are dead! Not only that; now he wants to kill of Remus and I!"

"I trusted him to protect her," Snape hissed. "The old man played me for a fool! A very grave mistake!"

"Here I thought he was being nice to me, and he was the one who enforced all the Werewolf Restricting Laws," Remus growled.

"I always knew they were corrupt," Fred spat.

"Mum and Dad have always coveted rich people," George agreed, sneering. "I just never thought they'd resort to coercion and murder."

"Bill and Charlie will have to be warned," Fred mused.

"How did you come to overhear this, Miss Granger?" Snape asked.

"I'd gone to Dumbledore's office to request that Harry not go to his aunt and uncle's this summer," she said. "The Triwizard Tournament had already taken a toll on him; he didn't need the abuse of his relatives," she spat the word as if it were poison, "to make it worse. They had no idea I was there. I immediately went and told Harry."

"Abuse?" Sirius asked sharply.

"Harry and I don't exactly have the greatest home lives," Hermione said flatly. She lifted her shirt and showed them where the word "slut" would forever be etched into her skin. Harry took off his shirt and showed them his back.

"Why?" Remus croaked, looking sick.

"Because we have magic," Hermione said flatly. "Most muggles don't like anything that they don't understand; and magic, which they can't explain, tops the cake."

"That's awful," Sirius whispered, also looking sick.

"Most muggles just put their children out, explaining it away by saying it was from bad behavior," Hermione said. "Unfortunately Harry and I received the short end of the stick. And Dumbledore knew, of course; he was using the Dursleys to make Harry more vulnerable and controllable. He knew about my home life as well."

"I feel I owe you an apology, Potter," Snape said, deathly pale. "Here I thought you were just being arrogant like your father, when you were just a troubled boy with a troubled life."

"Don't," Harry said flatly. "What's done is done."

"How'd you find out he knew about you, Hermione?" Fred asked.

"After I'd overheard his plans, I snuck into his office when he wasn't there," she explained. "I found his personal journal. I know he told Mrs. Weasley and them that Voldemort was a failed experiment, but that wasn't true; Voldemort ended up exactly how Dumbledore wanted him."

"Explain," Snape demanded.

"All of this was a plot for Dumbledore to rule the Wizarding World," Hermione said. "He created Voldemort so that everything would be in chaos. Then he came in and told the Minister all he needed to know about Voldemort. Then he planned the whole thing with Harry so that he could train him up to kill Voldemort; Harry would be the one to kill Voldemort, but Dumbledore would be seen as the wise mentor that if Harry hadn't been trained by him, Harry would be dead and Voldemort would be in charge. Then he would control the Wizarding world from the shadows because the Minister would seek his 'wise council' more than he does now."

"What do you mean 'does now?'" George asked. "Fudge is slandering Dumbledore as much as he is Harry."

"Only under Dumbledore's orders," Hermione said. "He made Fudge think that this would help strengthen Harry so he could defeat Voldemort. The reality of it is that he needed Harry to trust him completely, and in order to do that he had to look just as bad."

"You said he created Voldemort," Remus said quietly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly as I said," Hermione said. "Dumbledore put a very complex spell on Voldemort; it's almost a modified version of the Imperius Curse, only darker. It's what caused Voldemort to go dark in the first place. He wouldn't have killed muggles and muggleborns for no reason; he would've sympathized with the muggleborns because of the orphanage he grew up in, and he'd make sure the Wizarding World stayed as separated from the Muggle World as possible."

"So the real evil here is Dumbledore, and no one even knows it?" Sirius summed up.

"Yep," Hermione said, feeling the effects of the potion wear off.

"So, what do we do now?" Fred asked.

"I've already started planning," Hermione said. "But it's not safe to continue talking about this here, even with my wards. We'll need to find a safe place to meet and continue this further. Until then, act as if nothing is amiss." Hermione stood and stretched. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted; it's almost one in the morning. We could all use the rest."

The others reluctantly agreed. Hermione lifted all of her protective charms and they all parted ways, bidding each other good night and trying to calm their winding thoughts.

Well, there's chapter one! I know Snape's a little out of character, but since this is a Severus/Hermione story, he was bound to be a bit out of character. If you've seen the movies, you'll recognize the dinner scene; I just added Severus in there for my plot. Tell me what you think! Reviews pretty pretty please!


	3. Author's Note

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update, but I promise you, the next chapter will come soon. I've been very busy here lately, so please don't murder me. I barely have time to be writing this author's note. I think I need to give a couple of warnings that I should have given in the beginning.

First off, this story is NOT canon. It does go by the books somewhat, but there are other things that are not.

Second, I've had someone point out to me that Hermione is a bit out of character. I know that in the book Hermione isn't one to think outside the box as Severus does, and doesn't have the highest grade in DADA; but she doesn't have the lowest grade either. In fact, it was pointed out to me that she was only one letter grade lower than perfect. But in my story she is able to match Severus in dueling, while in the 5th book she never would have been able to. I promise that will be explained in the next chapter, but I will warn you that she will continue to become out of character.

Those are my warnings, and if I feel I need to give more, I will.


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